Morton Stevens
| birth_place = Newark, New Jersey United States | origin = | death_date = | death_place = Encino, California United States | genre = | occupation = Composer | instrument = | years_active = | label = | associated_acts = | website = }} Morton Stevens (January 30, 1929 – November 11, 1991) was an American film score composer. In 1965, he became director of music for CBS West Coast operations. He is probably best known for composing the theme music for Hawaii Five-O, a television series for which he won two Emmy Awards (in 1970 and 1974), and was nominated seven other times for work on television programs including Gunsmoke and Police Woman. He was taught by Oscar-winning composer Jerry Goldsmith, with whom he frequently collaborated on other projects. Biography Stevens graduated from the Juilliard School in 1950, and within a few years began working as an arranger/conductor for Sammy Davis Jr. After Davis's longtime conductor, George Rhodes, died in 1985, Stevens was among those who filled that role again sporadically until Davis' death in 1990. In his later years, Stevens worked as conductor for other Vegas legends, including Jerry Lewis, and was musical director for the "Rat Pack" tour featuring Davis, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and—after Martin quit—Liza Minnelli. His classic theme for Hawaii Five-O was re-recorded for the 2010 remake of the television series. His film work included scores for films and TV movies such as Wild and Wonderful (1964), The Spy with My Face (1965), Deadly Harvest (1972), The Strangers in 7A (1972), The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973), The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974), Code Name: Diamond Head (1977), Wheels (1978), The One Man Jury (1978), Women in White (1979), They Still Call Me Bruce (1987), Act of Piracy (1988) and the Jerry Lewis films Hardly Working (1980), Slapstick of Another Kind (1982) and Cracking Up (1983). In addition to "Hawaii Five-O", he also worked on the earlier smash 1960s CBS Television series dealing with an island, of a different kind: "Gilligan's Island", 1964-1967, as one of a handful of composers with his above-mentioned, frequent coworker, Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Gerald Fried, Billy May, and other composers. Stevens also composed "So Old, So Young," used as the theme music (in two separate arrangements) for CBS' primetime (from 1966 to 1978) and late night (from 1972 to 1985) movie broadcasts. Stevens died of pancreatic cancer in Encino, California at the age of 62. References External links * * * * Category:Morton Stevens Category:1929 births Category:1991 deaths Category:20th-century American composers Category:20th-century classical musicians Category:20th-century male musicians Category:American film score composers Category:American Jews Category:American male composers Category:American television composers Category:Deaths from cancer in California Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer Category:Hawaii Five-O Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:Male film score composers Category:Male television composers Category:Musicians from Newark, New Jersey Category:Bruce Broughton Category:Jerry Goldsmith Category:Alexander Courage Category:Henry Mancini Category:Bernard Herrmann Category:Leonard Rosenman Category:Shirley Walker Category:Brian Tyler Category:John Barry (composer) Category:Georges Delerue Category:Stanley Myers Category:Laurence Rosenthal Category:Dennis McCarthy (composer) Category:William Ross Category:Joel McNeely Category:Don Davis (composer) Category:John Debney Category:Alan Silvestri Category:Steven Scott Smalley Category:Stewart Copeland